TONYDH wrote on Apr 16
th, 2010 at 11:36pm:
please be careful with bt set up charges. as far as i am aware they are one of the last if not the last company to cling on to call set up charges. there is no actual cost to bt to "set up" a call. they are straight profiteering and yet one more example of bt trying to exploit their "household name".
AFAIK, call set-up charges or call connection charges as they are sometimes known, were coined by the cable provider Virgin Media formally as ntl and Telewest. Only relatively lately have they become a staple of BT, Talk Talk, Sky Talk and maybe others.
What I believe was a BT first was whole minute billing. If we still had clockwork exchanges, then I could maybe understand it. But now whole-minute billing has spread like a cancer, just as call set-up fees.
BT's 5 pence minimum charge and per second billing for geographic calls, RIP.
TONYDH wrote on Apr 16
th, 2010 at 11:36pm:
their commercial activities over the 20 years or so that i have been in telecom deregulation have not matched what i suspect most people's image of a national icon might be.
let us just say that their commercial reputation in our industry is the subject of much criticism.
from the inside view, we cannot understand why anyone would choose them as a supplier when there are so many, much better alternatives.
You speak as an industry insider which means you will appreciate termination charges and how call charges are split up between the various operators that carry a call. I mentioned this in my previous posting, but I will come on to it again in response to your posting.
TONYDH wrote on Apr 16
th, 2010 at 11:36pm:
to answer your question, bt unilaterally set their own call set up charges. they are now at a level that means that bt calls outside package inclusive calls can now cost up to around 9p minimum.
The minimum charge for a call with BT during the daytime (for all but those on Anytime) is now about 16 pence.
TONYDH wrote on Apr 16
th, 2010 at 11:36pm:
most businesses will not be aware of this recent hike in charges since most unfortunately don't bother to examine their telephone bill (if it is a bt bill they may well have a difficult task anyway); and are being nicely ripped off because a set up charge of i think about 5p + a minimum call charge of 4.7p means a call of even a few seconds costs about 9p.
in some cases i believe bt still round up to the full minute.
some competitors have minimum call charge of around 1p, we do not charge a set-up fee or minimum call charge.
This is looking more and more like you have copied the text from your company's literature. Which of your competitors have a minimum charge of around 1 pence? Surely if you have no minimum charge or set-up fee, then you would contrast it to a set-up fee of around 10 pence which your competitors charge and not the lowest. Please can you identify those providers that have a minimum charge of 1 pence where new customers can sign up because I don't know of any.
TONYDH wrote on Apr 16
th, 2010 at 11:36pm:
the 5p is split between between the carrier - in this case bt - the provider - which could be a separate reseller or could be the carrier taking both splits if sold direct - and the called party.
As I said above, BT takes a miniscule amount, unless it is the provider of the 0844 (or other) number in question.
TONYDH wrote on Apr 16
th, 2010 at 11:36pm:
09xx numbers pay the seller(s) generally 50 to 70% of the call charge. bt takes the rest.
BT as an originator or terminator?
As you know, because of the regulation on BT (the NTS Condition), BT takes a tiny amount (when it acts as an originator). When it acts as a terminator (an operator of a 09 number), it takes a big chunk, just as other providers such as Cable & Wireless and ntl:Telewest (Virgin Media) do when they provide the numbers.
TONYDH wrote on Apr 16
th, 2010 at 11:36pm:
Bt charges are not clear to the user and their billing is opaque. use another supplier please
The more I read of your posting, the more it looks like spam.
TONYDH wrote on Apr 16
th, 2010 at 11:36pm:
in my experience if a company wants you to pay for a call before you join them - expect to see a high level of unacceptable arrogance and contempt for the customer.
This campaign has never been opposing charges for telephone calls to companies. It is about the covert-premiums with the 084 and 087 numbers (0870 numbers were removed from this bracket last year).
TONYDH wrote on Apr 16
th, 2010 at 11:36pm:
at the risk of repeating what i said in my last post - there is no justifiable need at all to call paid for 08xx or 09xx numbers. send an email asking them to call you. if they don't reply or call - well you then know what kind of company you are dealing with.
Does not having internet access (such as an elderley person) not count as a "justifiable need"?